Strategic Marine to open shipyard in Mexico

Australian-based Strategic Marine will open its first shipyard in the Americas in early 2008 following a successful joint venture bid with Servicios Navales E Industriales S.A. DE C.V. (SENI) to build two 52 m aluminum crew boats for Arrendadora Ocean Mexicana S.A. de CV (Blue Marine Offshore) in Mexico.

The US$11.89 million contract will see the two vessels operated by Blue Marine Offshore for its Pemex contract in the Gulf of Mexico.

Work on the contract is scheduled to commence this year, before which Strategic will work with SENI to upgrade its existing maintenance facility at Mazatlan on the Mexican west coast.

Both vessels will be based on Strategic's Deep V High Speed Planing Hull design and will be operated by a 10-man crew and will have a capacity for 60 passengers plus 100 tonnes of cargo at a cruising speed of 20 knots.

Strategic Marine chairman, Mark Newbold, said the company had established a sound working relationship with SENI which would provide a strategic cornerstone for the company's global expansion plans into the Americas.

"We have been actively looking to increase our construction capacity to underpin global growth, in particular our goal of moving into larger offshore vessels such as PSVs, AHTs and DSVs," he said.

"The Blue Marine contract is an ideal and substantial plank in respect of this vision. It provides us with increased construction capacity, while significantly enhancing our ability to provide customers with an increased global support capability."

Mr Newbold said the Mazatlan yard would provide Strategic Marine with the ability to target both the North and South American offshore and para-military markets.

Design of the two vessels will be undertaken at the company's Henderson facility in Western Australia. Strategic Marine plans to construct two additional crew boats in anticipation of future orders from operators in the oil and gas sector.

The company's order book now stands at more than US$200 million. Strategic Marine has built more than 320 vessels for domestic and export markets. The company's vessels have been purchased by private companies and governments in South East Asia, North America, Africa, Europe and the Middle East.